FILM INTERVIEW: ELTON JOHN

Pop Legend Adds Music and Plays the "Gnomosexual" in Disney's 'Gnomeo and Juliet'

By: Izumi Hasegawa

February 7, 2011

Elton John not only adds music but Executive-Produces and has a song & dance number in Disney's new animated feature, Gnomeo and Juliet.  The Oscar and mega-Grammy-winning performer/composer sits down with Buzzine in a revealing interview about parenthood, his career, and influences.

Izumi Hasegawa: What was it like to go back and revisit some of your classic songs? You have such a huge collection of music. How did you decide what to use and what not to use?

Elton John: Originally it wasn't going to be all my music, but when Dick Cook at Disney Studios really got hold of this project and suggested we write new songs for it and it should be a whole Elton John/Bernie Taupin back catalog thing, I thought it was maybe a good idea; I'd never done that before. I enlisted the help of James Newton Howard, who's the arranger and a very famous arranger in this town, who actually used to be in my band, so I had a great relationship with him. There was one obvious song that would fit in the movie, which is "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," for the lawnmower race, and that wasn't my idea. I think that was Kelly (Asbury)'s idea. And from that point on, I really just handed it over to James and the rest of the team to put it in. I didn't really take an active part, saying it should go there. I mean I didn't, for example, choose "Bennie and the Jets" to go on the scene when Benny is on the computer ordering the Terrafirmenator, but obviously it worked, so you didn't have to be a magician to think that might work there. On the whole, I think James has done a great job because, even though it's all our back catalog and a couple of new songs, it doesn't feel overbearing like it's an Elton John movie. It feels like Gnomeo & Juliet with some good music in it. I'm glad it's turned out like that because I didn't want it to be just bang bang bang, all catalog stuff. So that's the way it happened, really.

IH: Do you garden or have a garden?

EJ: I grew up in my grandmother's house, and there was a beautiful garden, but I used to hate mowing the lawn and weeding, which is what you do when you're a kid. I loathe them, and I loathe gardening. But I love gardens, and I have two beautiful gardens, but I cannot bear gardening.

IH: You've done many duets in your career. How different is this one with Lady GaGa, professionally and personally?

EJ: The Lady GaGa duet came about really by me telling her, "Darling," and hitting her over the head and saying, "Will you do this song with me?" No, she came to the house last year. At Windsor, we do a ball every year at our house to raise money for AIDS, and she was the entertainment and she stayed at the house for two days. We just mentioned the film and the song, and she said, "I'd love to do it," and because she has an incredibly hectic schedule, she did it, I think, between dates somewhere in Scandinavia and a little bit in New York. We did it completely separately, but she added so much of her own magic to the song and she gave it a new life. Obviously it was a duet, and I was looking for someone to sing it with, and because she's one of my new best friends and I love her to death, it was nice that she was so excited to do it. That was a real plus for us for having to do it, and it worked out brilliantly.

IH: In the film, it seems as though the red and blue is a little bit of subtext about what goes on in America...

EJ: Not really. We started the film 11 years ago, and if we'd had the foresight to do that, I'd say we're fucking geniuses. But it just happens to be at this time--it's coming up three weeks after the president made the speech in Tucson, which was a very poignant moment in the history of America after this tragedy happened. I do feel as though there is a message in the film, like we spend so much time hating each other because our parents tell us that's what we have to do. I grew up conservative because my mum was a conservative, and when I finally realized what conservatives were, I changed my mind immediately. We tend, as children, to ape our parents, and I think this is a storyline saying yes, we should all get on, even if we're Catholic and we're Protestant and we're Muslim and we're Jews, if we're Democrats or Republicans... I think, in America, it's gotten so far outstretched now where the rhetoric is so dangerous, and it puts things in people's minds. It's so unnecessary, and if there is any message that can come out of this film, which is purely coincidental and the time is coincidental, then I'm all for it because, as I grow older, it saddens me to see a country that I love so much having such a gulf between people sometimes that they don't meet in the middle and talk and put their differences aside. I played a Proposition 8 concert the other night, and the two great lawyers who are fighting for this same-sex relationship recognition in California--one is a staunch Republican, one is a staunch Democrat--yet they met and both think this is the right thing to do. That is what life is all about; it's not about hatred, and I think, in the film, at the end of this, when they've destroyed both of the gardens, they actually say, "Enough--this is ridiculous. Let's just get on with our lives, let's be friends," and I think that sends out a positive message, but it truly is coincidental.

IH: Congratulations on becoming a parent. Was impending fatherhood part of the process while you were writing your original songs?

EJ: Not really because we wrote the songs so long ago. I never thought about that. The thing with animation films is you have to write the songs quite a long time ahead because you're writing for storyboards and you have placement things, and we actually wrote four songs for the movie--new songs, and two of them got left out--one of which was a really great song that Lily Allen sang, but the storyboards changed. The story evolves, and things just get left by the wayside, and that's the way you have to accept it when you write for a musical or an animation movie which has music in it.

IH: Are you playing at Kate Middleton and Prince Williams' wedding?

EJ: I don't know Kate and William, so... I made a joke that I'd probably be busking outside, but as far as I know, I don't think so, no. It'll probably be someone like Barry Manilow; someone younger, more attractive.

IH: Have you had a chance to see the lovely cover shoot for Us Weekly?

EJ: We've decorated our whole apartment with it. We break up and look at it. We're very happy with the way it's turned out. We raised a lot of money for our foundation with it, and we all look pretty amazing in it, especially Zachary, and the interview was lovely so we're very happy, thank you very much.

IH: Earlier you were talking about the tragedy that happened in Tucson. Have you or David (Furnish) ever been bullied because of your differences when you were younger?

EJ: I went to a mixed school and I can't remember ever being bullied at school, ever. I was quite large in those days, so usually, if you're going to be bullied, you're going to pick on someone who's small. I didn't remember bullying anybody, and I don't remember being bullied, and I went to a mixed school, which I was very glad I went to. Not just a boys' school. No, I can't say I ever was bullied at school.

IH: Now that you're a new father, do you have more plans to do things for kids? And how is the experience?

EJ: I do quite a lot for children anyway, with the AIDS foundation. I have a lot of godchildren. It's not as if children aren't in my life at all, and they've been very prevalent in my life over the last few years. David has lots of nieces and nephews, so I'm a great lover of children. I never thought one day that I'd actually be a father, but I am very pleased I changed my mind. Children are extremely important; they are the future of the world, and as long as David and I bring up a loving and compassionate boy, then I'll be very happy. I love kids. What can I say?

IH: How have you been able to build on The Lion King with this experience, and what have you learned and appreciate more about animation as a result?

EJ: The Lion King came my way in 1993, thanks to Tim Rice. I've always collaborated in my career as a songwriter, and I loved the idea and the journey of collaboration with everyone on The Lion King. I'm a team player really, that's why I like doing the musicals. I've always had a songwriting partner, as I said, and I think what you learn most of all is leave your ego at the door, because no matter what you write, if it's not good... For example, Billy Elliot--we left three songs, which were really great songs, out of Billy Elliot, but it would have made the show four hours, two minutes long, so it can't happen. You have to be prepared to say, "Okay, I'm going to fight for this song, but if you really want to get rid of it, that's fine." You've got to do that, and you've got to listen to the team as a whole. There have been so many times where we've convened during these 11 years, and the film has taken a different course or whatever, and you have to be a team player. You have to hold hands when things are going badly, and hold hands when things are going well. As an important member, you have to be there for everybody else on the team, and I've always liked that during my career. I've always had the good fortune to have a longstanding songwriting partner which I've been with for 44 years. It's just another way of sharing a joyful experience of creating something. You really do have to leave your ego at the door. If I was to say, "Well, this song's going or I'm walking off the film," there's none of that shit. You just have to be patient and watch how things evolve, and you have to be there for the good of the thing as a whole and not just for you as a component of the piece.

IH: Is there one song that's in the movie that you really liked from years ago?

EJ: I think it's very important, if you're British, to take the piss out of yourself. I think you're raised to do that in England, which is rather good. I think the scene with "Your Song," when Stephen Merchant plays the weedy gnome and then suddenly there I am, glam gnome, the gnomosexual in the film [laughs]--when he sings, that is a little bit runny. I lost it when I saw that, so that brings back very good memories of a song I've sung practically every time I've done a show since 1970, so I would have to say that moment is quite funny and I loved that moment.

IH: You have reached pretty much everything that an artist can reach, and ventured into many other artistical fields and have been successful. Is there anything left to conquer for you?

EJ: There are always things you want to do. Obviously ballet is not an option. I'd just like to make a really great film about my life story, and we're thinking about that. We have a great script already, by Lee Hall, who wrote Billy Elliot. Obviously it's not going to be your normal run-of-the-mill film because my life has been kind of crazy, and I think it's important to do a surrealistic take on my life. I'd love to do that. This business is so incredible. In 1993, I got a phone call from Tim Rice saying would I do The Lion King, when at that time, all I was doing was making records, touring, and doing videos. It gave me the opportunity, with that one phone call, to suddenly write musicals for the stage, film scores, and it just opened the doors to so many things. I don't know what's around the corner, and that's kind of the way I like it. You really can't plan. My life, my career has not been planned, like, in three years we're going to do this--it just happens by accident, and that's why I think all of us--as creative people, as performers--we like it because you never know what part you're going to be offered; you never know what gig you're going to be offered, and that one part and one show or one project can change your whole life. And that's the way I look at it. I don't really have any more ambitions other than I just want to work and do excellent stuff and enjoy it. I'm enjoying everything in my life, but I think the element of surprise in this business is what makes us really love it. Because one day you're sitting by the phone waiting to do something or not doing anything, and the next day you've got the chance of a lifetime. Those little phone calls don't come up so often, but when they come up, it's fantastic. An example of that is, in 1990, if you'd have said that in 1993 I'd be writing a song about a fucking warthog, I'd have said you're out of your mind. When Tim Rice gave me the lyrics and said [sings] "When I was a young warthog..." I actually thought I was losing my mind. And look what happened. And if you'd have said, in 1990, "You're going to make a film about garden gnomes," I'd have said you're crazy. So this is the joyous thing about being a creative person. Things can come along--they completely surprise you--that you normally would never have thought of doing.

IH: Is this the first time you've executive-produced a film?

EJ: Yes, it is the first time. I have a film company with David called Rocket Pictures, and this is our third movie, but this is the first time I've exec'ed a film.

IH: What is it like for you personally to venture into film executive-producing?

EJ: Oh, you do nothing! [Laughs] Absolutely nothing. You just get this title called Executive Producer, and I go away on tour and say, "Get on with it!" And that's called an executive producer. And that's the truth! All jokes aside, there have been a couple of times, when the movie's been kind of in danger of being dropped by the studio, where I've had to make the phone call to the head of the studio and say, "Listen, it's me. We have to have a meeting. We've come so far, we cannot lose the film now." That's my job as the executive producer--to try and rally the team when the team has no other means of communicating with the studio, and then...here I am. Wonder poof!

IH: How is being a father?

EJ: Oh, it's fantastic. I love the smell of nappies (diapers). Obviously it's been the most wonderful thing that probably has ever happened to me after meeting David. What's really surprising is it's been really relaxing because this little soul that you're feeding and you're changing and bathing and telling bedtime stories to is a blank canvas, and all it needs is love and nurturing, and it's just the most wonderful feeling. When he gets to talking and running around, I'll probably feel a little different. What can I tell you? It's wonderful. And I'm biased.

IH: You're going on tour this year in Europe. Does it feel different for you to be on stage at this point of your career as opposed to 20, 30 years ago?

EJ: I think it's so much more comfortable for me now. I've always enjoyed and loved playing live. I relish and cherish it more than anything else because you never know what the performance is going to be. These guys will tell you, if you go onstage some nights and you do a performance and you're feeling great, sometimes you're not as great as you think you're feeling. Some nights you're feeling tired and you do a really great performance. It's the unknown; again, as we we were talking about earlier. You don't know, being a performer, what kind of performance you're going to get. You know you can give a certain quality of performance, but as I grow older, I'm much more content in my own skin because, when I come offstage now, I have a balance in my life. Until I found that in 1990, I didn't. I came offstage and I didn't know what to do in myself. Now I fly home every night after a show, and I go back in my own bed, and I have a wonderful partner, wonderful friends, I can remember things, I don't take drugs anymore...it's a whole new world out there! I can remember the words to the songs, it's great! It's just sensational, what's happened to me in the last few years! Truly, the older I get, I think I'm singing better live. I enjoy it. I also had my eyes done about eight years ago. I had a replacement lens surgery because I was so blind. I don't really need to wear glasses, I'm just being moody. But now I have 20-20 vision. I can see all the signs that the fans have, all the album sleeves, and it makes a difference. I really appreciate my performing so much better now as I get older than I did; I don't take it for granted anymore. I really relish it and love it. 

IH: One of the things I've enjoyed most about your music over the years is the sheer variety of it--not just from album to album, but from song to song. What counts for your great eclecticism?

EJ: I grew up in a house that listened to radio, my family always bought records, and I grew up in the early '50s so it was either classical music or dance band music, or great vocalists like Frank Sinatra. I got Songs for Swingin' Lovers for my birthday when I was about eight years old, I think. I grew up in a house that loved music, and of course, when rock and roll came, I had all this knowledge of the great American singers and bandleaders and musicians and jazz players by the time I was six or seven. Rock and roll came in and changed my life and changed the whole music scene forever, and then I grew to love R & B and Motown and all black music, gospel music. I never dismiss any form of music. I listen to everything. I'm on the new Kanye West record, for example. It's a genius record. I was on the Alice in Chains record, so you can't really...Alice in Chains, Kanye West--I love all different sorts of music. People who mock rap and say, "I don't like it," should go and check out Kanye in the studio rapping, or Marshall "Eminem" when he's in the studio. It's a phenomenon. It's kind of like modern jazz, when John Coltrane, all those people started. It's a different thing. Don't knock it until you've seen it. It may not be your cup of tea, but don't ridicule it. I find that so many of my peers of my age don't listen to anything new. I love the new. I love the energy of the new act. There's a record, I'm plugging it remorsely, called Plan B. It's called The Defamation of Strickland Banks. It's the number one record in England; it's going to be released here in March. It's by a guy who was in Harry Brown--a film with Michael Caine--and he played the villain. He made a rap record before, and he was in Harry Brown, and now he's made this record where he sounds like Smokey Robinson, and it's phenomenal. There's a band called The Punch Brothers who are amazing. They're like bluegrass meets Miles Davis. That's what I'm interested in. I know all the old stuff, it's in here. I just want to get the energy from the new, and the eclectic stuff is embracing the new, embracing bands like The XX, embracing bands that come out of Britain, and Florence and the Machine and all those people, because their energy is so infectious, at our age. I had great energy between 23 and 28, where you're working on adrenaline and it's just driving you. That energy is just pure adrenaline. And then, after that, you lose it a little bit, but you still have enthusiasm and energy, but it's not the adrenaline that the young have, and I just think it's so important to listen. Looking at the Golden Globes the other night, there was so many incredible young actors, or young actors like Mark Wahlberg or Matt Damon who I remember being actors who now merge and have gone on to be fantastic older actors, and then you see Jesse Eisenberg and people like that who just have star quality written over them. The young are so important. The young give you the energy, and if you don't notice the young and you don't take that and you don't give them credit and you don't listen to all sorts of music, then you're missing out on something.

IH: You've been in a relationship for a long time. Do you have any advice for young couples?

EJ: Communication. Talk to each other. Lady Antonia Fraser, who is married to Harold Pinter, said they never went to bed at an argument, and David and I never go to bed when we're angry with each other.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures' 'Gnomeo & Juliet' is released on February, 11, 2011.